The $10.2 million Domain tram interchange is also set to be demolished and rebuilt, it has emerged, just two years after it opened in 2013.

Fresh detail of the $11 billion Melbourne Metro rail tunnel has been released by the authority for the project, revealing some parts of the city face years of major disruption as the nine-kilometre underground railway line is built.

These include the closure for up to three years of part of Grattan Street in Carlton and Domain Road just south of the Shrine of Remembrance.

The section of tram route 8 tram that runs along Domain Road and Park Street in South Yarra will also be closed for up to three years, and diverted to new temporary tram tracks built along the western end of Toorak Road.

Further detail of where and how each station will be built, including where street-level entry and exit tunnels will be, has also been revealed.

PARKVILLE STATION

At Parkville, Grattan Street will be dug up between Royal Parade and Leicester Street, forcing the long-term diversion of one of Melbourne's busiest bus routes, the high-frequency route 401 shuttle between the University of Melbourne and North Melbourne station.

The high-frequency route 402 bus between Footscray and East Melbourne will also be diverted.

A pedestrian underpass beneath Royal Parade, between the university and hospitals precinct, will be built as part of the project.

DOMAIN STATION

Domain station will be built beneath St Kilda Road, forcing the closure of part of Domain Road for up to three years and St Kilda Road for shorter stretches of time.

The Domain tram interchange, which was rebuilt just two years ago, will be demolished and rebuilt again nearer to the new station.

The Edmund Herring Oval, and potentially the outer edges of some Shrine of Remembrance grounds, may be used as construction support areas.

A tunnel boring machine will be launched underground near Domain, either at St Kilda Road or in Fawkner Park.

Peter Baker, manager of popular Domain Road hotel and restaurant The Botanical, was unaware of the planned shutdown and said the loss of the tram line would dampen the buzz in the area.

"The tram stops right outside the restaurant and it keeps it feeling like a little high street - it'll lose a bit of its high street appeal," Mr Baker said.

"The Botanical gets a lot of locals but it also relies on people travelling in from the city, and whether or not this deters them, time will tell."

CBD NORTH STATION

Building a new station at CBD North will mean shutting down Franklin Street east of Swanston Street, and A'Beckett Street between Swanston and Stewart streets, for an extended period.

Unlike South Yarra station, which will not be connected to the Melbourne Metro, commuters will be able to switch seamlessly between CBD North and Melbourne Central station in the City Loop via two underground walkways once the rail tunnel opens.

CBD SOUTH STATION

Melbourne's City Square is set to become a construction site when CBD South station is built below Swanston Street, and possibly the location for tonnes of spoil extracted.

Flinders Street faces a number of short-term shutdowns between Elizabeth and Russell streets, although long-term street closures will be avoided by going deeper beneath the surface and using a tunnel boring machine.

When finished, people will be able to reach the station from an entrance at Federation Square. There will also be an underground passage between the new station and Flinders Street Station, crossing beneath Flinders Street.

ARDEN STATION

Arden station in North Melbourne will become the main construction site for the project and take about eight years to build. The site will be used to launch tunnel boring machines west towards the western portal and east towards Parkville and CBD North stations.

Currently an industrial zone, it is anticipated that the Arden district will be redeveloped as a mix of homes and offices in future.

EASTERN PORTAL

The Cranbourne-Pakenham rail line, one of the city's busiest, will be shut down for an unknown period while it is connected to the Metro tunnel just south of South Yarra station. A spokesman for the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority said it was hoped disruptions to commuters would be kept to a minimum.

A new bridge will be built across the rail line at William Street, about two metres higher than the current one so trains entering the Metro tunnel can pass beneath the Sandringham line.

WESTERN PORTAL

The authority will hold information sessions, beginning at Domain on November 10.

The detailed designs for Melbourne Metro have been released although the Andrews government is yet to secure crucial funding from Canberra of one-third of the project costs, or one-third funding from the private sector.

The tunnel would create capacity for an extra 20,000 passengers an hour and be the biggest addition to Melbourne's public transport system since the City Loop opened in the early 1980s.

The government plans to begin construction in 2018.